Google apologizes for ‘Fitsa Hats’ showing up in search for FPI headquarters in Google Maps

The Fitsa Hats meme is so last week, but it had quite a revival in the past couple of days due to some hilarious trolling of Google Maps.

Hilarity ensued on Monday when netizens posted screenshots of what would happen if they searched for the headquarters of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on Google Maps. This is what they found:

Today, Google apologized for the error and attributed it to there being a system in Google Maps that allows users to input information to specify locations.

“On the whole, our data is comprehensive and up-to-date. But we realize that there’s always a possibility for inaccuracies to arise out of [third party] sources,” said a Google Indonesia representative to Detik today.

Google says that they have people working on fixing the error. True enough, a search for the FPI headquarters no longer shows the location for “Fitsa Hats”. However, as of 10 am today, a search for “Fitsa Hats” still leads to the location of the FPI headquarters in Central Jakarta.

The Fitsa Hats meme was created last week after Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama pointed out that Habib Novel Bamukmin, FPI Jakarta leader and “witness” in his blasphemy trial, wrote in the personal profile section of his official court document that he once worked at Fitsa Hats. Ahok alleged that Novel deliberately made the typo because he was too embarrassed to admit that he worked for Pizza Hut, a restaurant chain based in the USA (and thus run by non-Muslims).



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on